Sacramento Republic gets dispiriting result against Phoenix, must wait to clinch playoffs
A frustrating night at Heart Health Park on Wednesday means Sacramento Republic will have to wait a little longer to avenge missing the USL playoffs last season.
Sacramento fell at home for just the third time in league games in 2022, losing to Phoenix Rising FC 1-0 despite having numerous opportunities against a clearly inferior club.
“You have to score,” exasperated manager Mark Briggs said afterward. “If you score one, you probably score three or four. But we didn’t do that. Therefore we’re on the wrong end of a result.”
All Republic FC needed was a tie to clinch a playoff spot in the USL Western Conference after missing out in 2021 for the first time since the club’s inception in 2014. They still sit in the driver’s seat for a playoff berth, needing just a point as they hold the No. 4 spot in the standings. Seven teams will go to the playoffs.
A loss from Las Vegas on Friday would clinch it for Sacramento, but each point is valuable as the team tries to secure a chance to host games in the postseason.
The story of the night was Sacramento’s missed opportunities after allowing a goal that Briggs called “soft” in the 35th minute from Phoenix’s Arturo Rodriguez. It was a right-footed strike from outside the box that normally dependable keeper Danny Vitiello allowed in the right corner of the net after it deflected off his hands.
“The ball moved a little bit, but it’s a completely soft goal,” Briggs said. “But the amount of opportunities we created, even in the first half, getting into dangerous areas, putting goals across the box, but not hitting the target. Then the second half, again, we didn’t hit the target, and we didn’t make the keeper make a save. And therefore you don’t win games when you don’t hit the target.”
Republic FC had 29 crosses into the scoring area throughout the game, including at least three opportunities that could have finished in the back of the net on a normal night. But Phoenix’s keeper Benjamin Lundt was credited with six saves, including two in the final 15 minutes that preserved the win. Sacramento had 13 shots, five on goal and seven corner kicks.
Phoenix came into the game 12th in the 13-team Western Conference with 33 points. The result was particularly disappointing given Sacramento’s play in the U.S. Open Cup earlier this season, which included a trip to the finals against Orlando City S.C. after beating MLS clubs the San Jose Earthquakes and Sporting Kansas City over the summer.
Briggs said the team didn’t get off to a good start Wednesday in the first half, when the goal was allowed, and brought the needed intensity to the game after halftime. But Sacramento couldn’t capitalize with a goal. The team clearly grew frustrated with its inability to finish.
“We gotta regroup,” Briggs. “We know what quality we have. We know what we can do. Especially in one off games because we’ve played how many of them in the open cup. We’re fully aware. We just got to get back to basics and start to get a little bit momentum, starting with Sunday.”
The team was missing star midfielder and second-leading goal scorer Rodrigo Lopez, who was serving a two-game suspension for yellow card accumulation. Republic FC next travels to Southern California for a tilt against L.A. Galaxy II before finishing off the league schedule against the Pittsburgh on Oct. 9 and San Diego on Oct. 15.
This story was originally published September 29, 2022 at 5:40 AM.
